


Oikawa Tooru Demonic Agency for the Unnatural and the Unknown

by pallu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Detective AU, Gen, Half elf Half dwarf Hinata, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychic Yachi, Some mythology, cozy mystery, the slowest burn, vampire Kageyama, with monsters and magic included
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27144775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pallu/pseuds/pallu
Summary: Oikawa Tooru’s Demonic Agency for the Unnatural and the Unknown. Or the dead center where all of the problems of the most neglected part of the nightside fall. Or the place where Kageyama Tobio is doing his “internship” with the most annoying boss in the world. Or Hinata Shoyo’s most recent life goal. Or Hitoka Yachi’s escape from uncertainty and disappointment. Or the governments number one enemy. You name it.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. The one with the sea monsters pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic, yeei! Thank you to the wonderful [Lambardo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lambardo) for betaing!
> 
> Some elements were inspired by the amazing fic [Gerard Way (Vampire) Detective Agency](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29401) ! please read it if you can!!

Kageyama looked out of the window, taking in as much moonlight as the tall glass allowed him to. It was a cold autumn night, and even though the mansion’s thick walls should be able to keep the warmth within them, it was still chilly inside. He guessed it was because of the amount of cold blood and dead bodies working within the mansion. It wasn’t his favorite weather, he had to admit, but at least it made his coffin seem somewhat less suffocating.

"Tobio chan, I could use a little help."

It wasn’t that hard, actually, getting used to dark and wet days. The only thing that bothered him was how slippery the stone roads turned, not at all a match for his heeled boots. Also, given that most of the townsfolk were nighttime beings, the longer nights created the perfect atmosphere for incidents to happen.

“Ma’am, I’d need you to sit down so I can take a proper report- Tobio chan, could you please pull that chair out for her? Oh- no, grab the divan so she and her beautiful… tentacles? Can be more comfortable.” A squeal was heard behind, and Kageyama could almost catch teeth grinding. “Oop! Ma’am! let’s keep our hands where we can see them.”

Winter was the worst though, as everyone who didn’t need to work preferred cozying up at home. On blizzard days, just those who were strictly necessary would be out, which meant in the case of an incident, they’d have to deal with clues hiding in the snow and no witnesses.

“You pretty boy… why haven’t we met before?”

“I know right? I was just thinking the same, if we could just sit and -Tobio the divan!- and talk, we surely would be better acquainted with each other.”

Kageyama wondered if this spring would bring those traveling vendors back; he really liked their tea. They said they came from far away, a place where it always felt like summer. His skin itched just thinking about it.

“Can’t you see we’re already so close?” He heard a deep femenine purr, followed by a very dramatic gasp from the other person. “How do you like the sea?

“What is going on here?”

The booming voice made all of them turn to the door. Iwaizumi was floating above them all, brow raised at the embrace his boss and the strange woman were sharing.

“Oh my my…” The sea witch scanned him up and down, already reaching out to him with one of her tentacles. “Your pretty friend here was just helping me with some… business, perhaps you can join us?”

Iwaizumi came down, his cane hitting floor first making a loud rumble run through the room. Mechanically her tentacles parted from Oikawa as they both took a step back. She held some of them to her chest, though not scared. She seemed more interested in the newcomer. “I see we are a little tense.”

“Don’t let him bother you. Now, Tobio, on your hands and knees on the floor so she can sit on you.” The sea witch laughed behind her hand without showing any real interest in him. Kageyama pointedly ignored them.

He heard Iwaizumi sigh and Kageyama decided it was enough of playing around before he was turned into subject of the sorcerer wrath.

Oikawa was already behind his desk while Iwaizumi, with snap of his fingers made a deep red velvet couch which was usually in Oikawa’s chamber appear in front of him. The sea witch made an appreciative noise and laid her length sideways, her long tentacles enjoying the softness, leaving goo all over it. Oikawa’s eyes twitched a little but he didn’t let his smile falter.

“Now, what gives the honor? I’m guessing you come from far away as our tiny little lake, the canal and the sea are all infested with some disgraceful creatures, surely no place for someone like you.” Oikawa said sweetly, stealing a very low giggle out of her. Kageyama assumed they were actually going to take her report and had no other option but to sit on the little table Oikawa had given him to work and start typing.

“Yes, it surely isn’t. We are from the North Sea you see, but as fall approaches, we have less and less visitors, and so we have to come all the way to the town for a little food to get us through.” Her smile was sly as she eyed both of them. Suddenly she seemed to remember something, eyebrows scrunching, lips pouting, her expression a distressed one, though just as dramatic as the others. “Oh! My poor little Scylla, and, oh, my poor little Charybdis! They are so young so pitiful! We were swimming around some sailors, ones already dead so it was kids play, when a storm came our way, and you’ll see I’m strong but these are no waters of mine, and they took us away! On my wake I was on their boat and there were no trace of them! Oh no! You’d think creatures like them would survive but see, even fishes can drown in water. Oh! What if some has them? There were so many fishermen and they were so hostile! I would have eaten them all at once if it wasn’t because maybe, one of them knows the whereabouts of my poor girls. Oh my my what am I to do…” She hid her face on her arms, sobbing and crying.

Silence followed the rest, too stunned to even try to console her. With everything said not even someone as charming as Oikawa could put on a façade. Kageyama had finished typing with trembling hands, not daring to look up, but with the tension in the room he could pretty much tell what everyone was thinking.

“Scylla and Charybdis you say…” Iwaizumi cleared his throat, only making her sob more.

“Yes! Yes, my two little girls. What if they’d been captured? Could you help if that’s the case?”

Oikawa shook his head trying to clear his thoughts, putting on a tense but genuine smile. “Well, yeah, we can try. Though I shall warn you ma’am, I don’t know if we possess the means to restrain them and bring them back to you.”

“Just point the way and I’ll go! They’re my girls they must trust me.”

“That’s fine then.” Iwaizumi and Kageyama looked at him, one of them gaping and the other trying to portray as much denial as he could without saying a word. Oikawa ignored them both. “Could you please tell us the location of the last time you all were together?”

“About seven miles from Orion's port.”

“To, like, the north? Do you have a reference point we could see? I don’t know, an island or something.”

“Oh, it was a little to the east, around where the sea meets the big canal and your land. I could show you on a map if you wish so.”

“That would surely help. Iwa chan, please.” He extended his arm, and Iwaizumi made a book fly to his hand, opening up on a map of all of the coastline. 

The sea witch marked the place without problem, and left after being assured multiple times that her… girls, would be safe and sound. And that Iwaizumi was prone to seasickness so he couldn’t accompany her on her search on water. Kageyama had begun to shudder every time he looked at her.

Iwaizumi escorted her outside to make sure she didn’t come back, and to clean all the fluids she left behind. Oikawa was turning the map around, trying to decipher which way was up and which way was down while Kageyama started transcribing on his old notepad all the useful information. The mansion’s front doors slammed shut and on the blink of an eye Iwaizumi appeared in front of them.

“Do any of you know how to read a sea map?” Oikawa had his feet propped on the desk, purposely blocking Iwaizumi’s face from his sight. In the same fashion, Kageyama kept his head down, pretending to write even though he didn’t have any more clues to transcribe.

“Who in the devil’s name let a stupidly powerful, three hundredth years old sea witch in here?” Oikawa and Kageyama pointed at each other, neither of them looking away from their tasks. “I’m going to ask one more time-”

“I did tell Oikawa san there was a sea witch outside before opening the door!”

“Tobio don’t lie!” Oikawa put his book down, throwing a look of outrage at his assistant. 

"I did tell you there was a woman with specifically six tentacles and basically a storm surrounding her outside the door and all you said was ‘if she’s pretty open up’. Why did it even matter if she is pretty?” He stood from his chair, hands leaning on his little table so he could shout better at Oikawa.

“If she’s pretty then she’s a cecaelia and if she’s not then she’s a sea witch. It’s not that hard.” He walked around his desk so he could be face to face with Kageyama. “Also you did open up. What, Tobio chan, did you find her pretty?” He threw half a smile, and if Kageyama could blush he would be red all the way to his ears.

“Whatever, even if we didn’t let her in she would have found a way to enter.” He crossed his arms, refusing to look at his taunting face anymore. 

Iwaizumi stared at the two of them, smoke coming out his nose; he then brought both hands to his temples, massaging them. “Yeah, whatever. I just want to know who is going to go out there to look for fucking Scylla and her equally scary sister, because I won’t.”

“C’mon Iwa chan! We’re a team!” Oikawa grabbed his robes, pulling like a little kid throwing a tantrum. 

“Nope, you two brought this onto yourselves now deal with it. Besides, I signed up for dealing with the unnatural and the unknown, not to search for pet monsters.” He turned around to leave, causing Oikawa to hug his torso in an attempt to stop him.

“What can be more unnatural than two huge, man-eating monsters getting lost? Think about it, doesn't that sound fun?” Ignoring him, Iwaizumi put his hand on the door knob. Kageyama wondered why he didn't just puff himself somewhere else like he always did, or at least try to detach Oikawa from his waist.

“A sea witch not biting your head off is unnatural. I’ll butt in if it gets ugly but, in the meantime, find a solution yourselves.” He was finally out, and Oikawa had no option but to let go, still pouting and making puppy eyes at him. “Plus, you’re half hanyo, maybe Scylla and Charybdis are your long-lost cousins or something!”

“Iwa chan mean!” He stuck out his tongue but Iwaizumi was already gone. Kageyama snorted and someone outside the window behind him snorted too. Kageyama tensed, quickly standing beside Oikawa in no time, both at the defensive, looking to the direction from which the noise came.

“You got that right?” Kageyama nodded, grabbing the poker from besides the fireplace. “It’s not the sea witch… it’s not demonic at all.” His assistant sniffed the air, and he was right. The essence had not a drop of demonic malice, and instead smelled like dry wood, fresh grass and… sun. Kageyama made a face, it was a fragrance he knew very well, and hated just as much.

“Tch, it’s just that dumbass Hinata.” He dropped the poker, deciding not to acknowledge him. Oikawa made his way to the window.

“Oh, chibi chan! What are you doing out here?” Oikawa said sweetly, resting his elbows on the window frame, and his chin on his hand, watching as the boy mumbled whatever, dusting of his trousers from where he was kneeling on the floor. “It’s dangerous, we could’ve killed you.”

“O-Oikawa san! I was just, I-” He patted his sides, and then the insides of his oversized wool jacket. “I actually brought,” He turned and jumped into a bush, reemerging instantly with an envelope in his hands. “Aha! You got updates from the Covenant.”

“Let see,” Oikawa said, taking the envelope he was being offered. “You can come in.”

Hinata happily hoped inside, landing steady on his feet.

“Your hair looks different. Did the Covenant finally drop that horrific hat?”

“No, I just lost mine and they don’t want to give me a new one. They say I have to pay for it.”

“Mmh, as accommodating as ever.” Oikawa sat down on his desk, opening the envelope and reading the letter with a small frown.

“Are those things really monsters?” Hinata asked, turning the papers on Kageyama’s table so he could read better. Kageyama rushed, snatching them away and guarding them on his coat. “It’s none of your business.” He said.

Hinata snarled at him and Kageyama snarled back. Their snarling match was then interrupted by Oikawa calling for Hinata.

“Chibi chan come here,” He pointed at the end of the page. “Could you please read this for me.”

“S-sure,” Hinata gulped. “After careful examination on the situation at hand, and deep insight with the corresponding parties we are saddened to announce that your application on Specimen Change and Relocation from Ascended tier to High Class, adhering, too, an application for Bi Kind Identification has both been denied, as an advancing permit written, signed and stamped by the master or head in question is necessary to testify in favor of the change and relocation. We ask for-”

“Why do they need my master approval?” Oikawa interrupted him, signaling the paper. “Chibi chan, that’s the whole deal I’ve not only been demoted I was kicked out of the clan. I don’t have a master.”

“I know! I-, I did tell the secretary and he said-”

“The secretary? You should have started there.” He stood up, picking up a little gold bell from the edge of his desk and ringing it. A group of small kobolds appeared, laughing in high pitched voices and pushing each other. “I need to go out, please bring me a coat from my chamber, the nicest you can find, and call for the carriage, just, please don’t scare the horses.” He started shoving envelopes inside his bag, not a bit worried about them getting all crumpled, while simultaneously searching for something, opening and closing all the drawers on his desk.

“What about the sea witch?” Kageyama asked and instantly regretted it as he saw Hinata’s ears perk up.

“Oh, damn. Right.” He left the mess on his desk alone to run a hand through his hair and moved to stand in front of the open window from which Hinata came in. He inhaled deep, humming a little, still not saying anything else.

“If it’s a water kind I don’t think it’s nerby. Every lake and river here is filled with all types of creatures, so I’m guessing they’re probably out in the sea or on the other side.” Oikawa turned his head, looking at him from the corner of his eye, gaze heavy, making him jump a little. “I-I mean, if there was a new monster they’d probably fight and everybody would have noticed already.”

Oikawa hummed again, now apprehensive, facing them fully. “You are so right, Chibi chan. Are you busy this week?”

“No,” Kageyama said, unable to stand Oikawa’s devilish smirk and Hinata practically vibrating on his toes.

“I’m free all nights!” Hinata almost shouted.

“Great! Tobio chan, you two work on it. Look for any leads and clues and when you’re 86% sure you know where they are, tell me.” He stood in front of him, squeezing his shoulder in what pretended to be a reassuring manner. Kageyama had to fight the urge to shrug it off. “This is the first case all for your-“ He eyed Hinata on the corner of his eye “Almost, all for yourself, don’t mess up. Also, be discreet and don’t tell anybody about the sea witch. I don’t need to give the Covenant more reasons to come for my neck.”

The kobolds arrived and Oikawa said his goodbyes, getting dressed into his hat, gloves and… coat? With the help of the kobolds.

“Hermman, in what hell does a purple satin night robe translates into a nice coat?” Oikawa complained, putting it on regardless.

“But master, it was in your drawer!”

“Master, master! Where did you get that, the circus?” And a fit of childish giggles could be heard all the way from the hall.

Hinata giggled too, which reminded Kageyama he not only had to deal with a case involving two of the most powerful sea beasts out there but also carry Hinata’s dead weight and having to share the credit with him too.

He turned, eyes angry, and Hinata stood straight, though in his eyes he could still see some excitement. “Oi, Kageyama kun, you heard the boss, I get the case too.”

Kageyama lifted him by the front of his clothes, but his expression didn’t change one bit. “Listen, you are going to be quiet and do everything I say. This is not a game. You may be on the case but I’m the one in charge.” He let go, noticing behind him the sun was starting to go up. “Come back tomorrow at nighttime, business hours. You can escort yourself out.” And with that he flew all the way to the safety of his chamber.

He emerged sometime later after politely asking the kobolds to close all the curtains in the mansion. They laughed and called him weak but did it regardless, and so got to work on the mansion’s library.

He already knew about the legends but he needed more than very graphic descriptions of just how horrible Scylla and Charybdis appearances were. He had to find something; if they preferred a certain kind of weather or if their diet included anything more than lost sailors and pirates. He dammed the greeks and their need to have a god, demon or creature of every single kind instead of species with actually shared patterns.

It took him at least an hour just to get all the needed material, and then another one to go through just one book; not even reading it completely, skipping to the parts related to marine beasts and more of the kind. It was already noon by the time he finished another book. His brow hurt, along with his eyes, having spent all morning tense in concentration; his head started to bob against his will and without noticing, he began to drift off with thoughts of how if he was the creator of the universe, he would just make all monsters and creatures the same.

☙

Somewhere far away, Kageyama could hear a voice calling his name. It carried a certain pitch, a really annoying one, which he was really familiar with. Instead, he chose to keep on swimming, lurking into every cave and behind every rock, to see if he could find something. But the voice was getting closer and closer, and he tried to swim faster, but water wasn’t really his specialty.

He went in deeper, knowing that his body could take the pressure, but the voice just didn’t seem to go away. He stopped and it stopped too, for a moment, before a hand grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the surface.

When he opened his eyes he found himself still in the library, with a very annoying guest owner of that annoying voice hovering over him, calling his name.

“Oi, Kageyama kun, are you awake? You have drool on your face.” He smirked. Kageyama pushed his chair back, hand coming to his chin trying to absentmindedly clean it along with his mouth. Not only that, he could feel his eyes heavy with eye crusts and his head drowsy. He peeked at the clock, and noticed it was already 6:30 pm. Did he really spend all the day sleeping in the library?

“I told you to come in business hours.”

“Yeah, that’s what I did.”

“Nighttime business hours.”

“Oh… well I’m already here and the portal won’t open until six in the morning so! Let’s get to work.” Hinata sat in front of him at the table, and Kageyama noticed he was carrying a diary, which looked strangely like his.

He passed him some books from the unread pile. “Search for anything Scylla or Charybdis related. Or even Poseidon or Circe, no matter what it is, and write it down.”

Hinata grabbed one of the books, opening it in a random page with an expression of horror.

“…How do you spell that?” He asked, opening another book and skimming through without really reading anything.

“Scylla? Sigma, kappa, upsilon-”

“Uhm, I can’t read Greek.” Hinata interrupted, giving him the books back. Kageyama hastily snatched them away and grabbed another two from the bunch. “Nor latin. I can’t read anything but japanese.” Kageyama gritted his teeth, letting the heavy books fall on the table, making it shake. He could hear Hinata gulp.

Kageyama had to physically restrain himself from kicking him out, and instead turned to the pile he had already gone through, disappointed at the difference in quantity between it and the unread bunch.

“Put these in their place, just look for the collection with the same name.” He pointed at it, training his eyes back to the book he had slept on.

“Urgh! Can’t we just go out? Do a little field study?” Kageyama lifted his gaze, eyes murderous. “Right, I’ll put these back.” And so he grabbed the pile, which consisted of 6 thick books. He lifted them without problem, and Kageyama guessed he could go back to his reading.

He guessed wrong, though.

“You know I was talking to people and found out-“

“About what?”

“Uhu? About the so called ‘girls’ and this auntie at work told me one of her cousins had a Rusalki sister-in-law, and she said-“

In no time Kageyama was in front of him, the books Hinata was carrying as the only thing putting some distance between them. His nostrils were flaring, and at the thought of challenge, Hinata’s eyes were determined to stand Kageyama’s, though the shaking of his arms couldn’t pass unnoticed.

“What part of keep this private didn’t you understand?”

At that moment there was no place in Kageyama for any other emotion but rage. His eyes were painted red and he growled deep in his chest, fangs coming out, sharp, until Hinata recoiled, face turned, escaping from his. “You have to be careful.” He hissed, making Hinata flinch. Kageyama eyed him, mad, but stepped back once he thought it was enough.  
That surely had to scare any idea of acting on his own he could have. Without another word, he pointed towards the shelves and Hinata scurried away, shoulders all the way to his ears. 

Kageyama breathed deeply and sat back like nothing. Hinata didn’t say anything else and only came back to grab a chair. Kageyama let out a short snort as he knew he probably needed it to reach the top bookshelves. He enjoyed his peace and quiet for around five minutes before a squeal and a series of giggles could be heard from one of the corners in the room. He knew it was the kobolds, but pretended not to hear in order to find out if Scylla or Charybdis were the mating type or if they had mating cycles; it only lasted some seconds before a crash made him jump out of his chair. 

He went to find out what was going on and if he could fit the saying ‘felt his blood boil’ he surely will at the sight that welcomed him.

Hinata was on the floor, buried under dozens of books; the bookshelf didn’t fall on top of him thanks to the kobold, whom, regardless of their favor, were laughing their little heads off.

“Young Kageyama, is he with you?”

“Master he should be working with us!”

“C’mon brother stand up!” All the kobolds laughed at Hinata.

Kageyama didn’t had any motivation left to even get mad, and instead bribed the kobolds, asking them to clean the place and in return he would sneak some of the other side pastries Oikawa kept hidden. They agreed instantly. He then grabbed his notes from the table, leaving the room without waiting for Hinata to resurrect from under the essays and studies on spiritual morals he was buried in.

He rushed towards Oikawa’s office, but then noticed a set of footsteps following right behind him. He breathed in deeply, before turning around.

“Just why… are you even here?”

Hinata stopped dead in his tracks, eyes big and guilty. Kageyama could almost smell slight fear in him. Good.

“I- I just want to help, and Oikawa san said-“

“If you weren’t so tone deaf,” He got closer. His deep voice rumbled through Hinata, whom even flinched back. “You would realize you are of no help here. Just what would a barely literate elf like you bring to the case? This is not child’s play, so I would very much appreciate if you’d leave me alone! Especially now that I have to deal with two of the most feared creatures in the sea playing lost pets!” His voice raised all the way to shouting. Hinata stood there, his face a weird contortion between fear and anger.

It lasted only a tick though, and Kageyama didn’t even have time to consider leaving again when Hinata pointed at him, mouth slightly open. “That…” He said, stabbing Kageyama’s chest with his finger. “That right there. The sea witch never said Scylla and Charybdis were her pets.”

Kageyama’s hands stopped midair from where he was about to push him away. He looked at him with wonder in his eyes, but made no comment, allowing Hinata to go on.

“You may already know, but they are not irrational creatures; yes, they were transformed into monsters and sometimes do things on instinct, but not, like, completely. If they were hanging around with someone like the sea witch, whom, we have to admit, isn’t exactly on their level? In power, I mean. It means it is their choice. So they, you know, are not going around eating everything on their path just because. Who knows, maybe they’re hiding or looking for the sea witch too.”

“Or maybe they were hunted already.” Kageyama weakly apported.

“I don’t think so, really.” The frown on Kageyama’s face deepened, and he let out what sounded like a growl. “Or maybe they were, we don’t know.” He ended trying to sound nonchalant.

“I’ll have to find out.”

“I? Don’t you mean we?” Kageyama shook him off. “Wait, I was the one who pointed out a very obvious fact, you should give me some credit.

“Whatever.” He dismissed him, and turned to direct himself to Oikawa’s office; one part of his brain getting all his gears to work, the other one scolding him for getting so caught up on ‘monsters’ and ‘pets’ that he didn’t even consider them actually planning on something, or even actively searching for their way back to the sea witch.

Before he could formulate a strong theory, Hinata tugged on his sleeve, stopping him, once again.

“Please don’t leave me alone with the kobolds.” He whispered stiff as a rock, as some giggles could be heard from behind the library’s door. Kageyama breathed his exasperation out, understanding the kobolds could be very off putting if one had just met them. They freaked him out too when he first arrived to the mansion, with their mean jokes and their little feet rattling everywhere.

Kageyama sighed, and signaled to the stairs. “End of the hallway, last door to the right. Don’t touch anything.” And with that zoomed away towards the east wing so he couldn’t be interrupted yet again.

Oikawa had never specifically presented his office as sacred ground, (that would be his chamber or Iwaizumi’s). It was the place where every single client was directed, be it strangers or friends, and so nothing really important was kept there. The only rule was to knock before going in. He did so, and after waiting and getting no response, he went in.

He searched for the map the sea witch had marked with the last place she saw her… companions. It wasn’t hard, as Oikawa usually didn’t pick after himself, leaving everything exactly where he had last used it. 

The book was on his desk, though tucked aside, which meant he had come back at some point in the day. He grabbed the book absentmindedly, going for the town’s creatures and beast’s city record one of their clients stole from the Covenant for them, as payment. He barely got to open one of the drawers when the door slammed open, Oikawa and  
Iwaizumi panting on the threshold.

“Tobio chan! H-how’s the search?” Oikawa turned back to look at Iwaizumi, eyes huge, but he was already right beside Kageyama, putting his hand over his to close the drawer he had just opened.

“Good, I began today.” He noted the tension in their smiles all the way to their hunched shoulders and fisted hands, and asked. “Is something wrong?”

“What? No, why do you say that?” Oikawa laughed, walking to his other side so he could rest a hand on his shoulder. “Need any help?”

“Uhm, I was looking for the creatures and beasts record? I want to filter the places where they could have encountered-“

Without needing him to finish Iwaizumi made a few gestures with his hands in the air and immediately on it appeared a thick, leather covered book. Oikawa took it, handing it to Kageyama. “Here you go, anything else?”

Kageyama stepped back, eyes jumping from Iwaizumi serious face to Oikawa’s fake smile. “What it’s going on?” He then remembered the reason why they weren’t taking part in the investigation, and asked: “Is this about the Covenant?”

Oikawa tried to mouth some words out, but was put out of his pathetic attempts by clatter. It came from upstairs, loud enough to be heard all the way to Oikawa’s office, and was followed by a screaming voice Kageyama was getting really familiar with.

“Oh, did you hear that?” Oikawa asked. Kageyama didn’t waste time answering, already fleeing upstairs towards his chamber to look after the environmental hazard Hinata presented for antique places like his room.

He opened the door only to find his coffin closed, very desperate squeals coming from the inside. Stomping all the way, he debated for a moment if he should open it or leave Hinata inside just to teach him a lesson.

“Kageyama I can smell you here, get me out!” His muffled voice called from inside.

“What were you even doing over here?” He asked, experiencing déjà vu from the last time Hinata had made a questionable choice. He was silent, so Kageyama knocked on the wood, earning what he guessed was a kick. The lid didn’t move an inch. “Well?”

“Just open the damn thing!”

Without problem Kageyama did so. A ball of orange rushed to jump out.

“It tried to eat me! That thing is haunted!” Hinata said, running to the other side of the room away from the coffin, hand on his chest trying to calm his thundering heart.

“It’s not haunted. It’s enchanted.” Kageyama said, closing the lid and cleaning imaginary dust from the surface. “So when an intruder tries to hide or get inside, it locks.” He said, making emphasis on the word intruder.

“Uh-uh, it literally moved to eat me. Raised from there, came over here and put me inside!”

Kageyama looked at him as if he was stupid, genuinely thinking so. The coffin had a base in which it rested most of the time, and while it wasn’t sealed down, it fit perfectly so simply moving it around was not something that could just happen. Kageyama was about to tell Hinata that, when they a slight knock on the door.

“Uh, come in?” Kageyama said, expecting it to be one, if not all of the kobolds. Instead, Iwaizumi peeked inside, and seeing as he wasn’t interrupting anything, entered the room.

“Take this,” He said, handing Kageyama a small, round crystal bottle filled with greenish goo. “From when I cleaned up the sea witch, uhm, fluids. Remember everything I taught you and use them well, okay?” He patted his shoulder, and Kageyama could swear he could almost see an angelic halo around him.

From outside, they could hear those terrifying high pitched laughs, along with Oikawa’s shouting. Kageyama ran to the window with the stables view, watching as some kobolds along with Oikawa, chased after one of the horses running wild. Hinata, who was peeking over his shoulder, laughed out loud, while Iwaizumi cursed under his breath.

“Are you leaving again?” Kageyama asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Iwaizumi nodded. “Yeah, we need to take some paperwork back. Ah, and sorry for that, Hinata.” He said, ruffling Hinata’s hair on his way out.

“Sorry for what?” Hinata wondered, eyes trailing after him. 

“Whatever.” He said, grabbing his sketchbook from the bookshelf, setting them in his improvised working desk. It originally had been a victim of one of their cases, where a haunted house just loved to throw furniture at its guests. Iwaizumi had fixed it up for him as it had the perfect size and matched with his room's dark theme. Kageyama appreciated it a lot.

He sat down, drawing the map so that he could take it with him, as Oikawa, as much as he abused them, didn’t like when the books left the house, saying they were ‘borrowed from a very exasperating friend who would notice if they lacked even a page’. 

“What are you doing?” Hinata asked, leaning back on the desk so he could get a better look at his work. “Woah… you know how to draw?” He was getting closer, way too much for Kageyama’s liking.

Without answering, he grabbed the town’s records he’d brought, hitting Hinata right on the chest with it, he didn’t even give him the chance to whine. “Look for all the creatures living on Orion’s Sea and all of the Gerasene Coast. Write their names and locations down.”

“All of them!?” Hinata asked, astonished at the number of pages that added to its heavy weight.

“Yes. You are free to go if it’s too bothersome.”

Hinata sat reluctantly on the floor, getting his own diary out of his messenger bag. He started writing without putting much thought into it, mocking Kageyama under his breath.

As Kageyama had begun to notice, Hinata and silence didn’t get along very well; less than three minutes passed before he asked: “So, you really have to sleep in a coffin? Is it, like, a requirement?”

Kageyama sighed, but didn’t look away from his work. “It was already here when I was transferred.”

“Was it Oikawa san’s?” Kageyama shrugged. “Right, but do you need a coffin to sleep?”

“No.”

“Then why a coffin? Isn’t it to stuffy in there? You can’t really move. Or is it because, you know, you’re not technically alive-“

“It blocks the daylight and I prefer it that way. Now, are you going to continue with the interview or are you actually going to work?” He finally turned around to face hum, just so the redhead could notice how mad he was.

“Geez, alright, no need to get so grumpy.”

Kageyama kept on drawing, but the frown didn’t leave his face. He actually didn’t need a coffin, he had a big comfortable bed in his old house, and it served him just fine. There wasn’t anything out there that he really needed besides a place to hide from the sunlight. But Oikawa had excitedly gifted it to him, and the lining and carvings both on the inside and outside were so fine and delicate, it could not have belonged to anyone but him. And he was not one to reject passed down presents from ex Ascendants.

Coming back from his thoughts, he realized he was done, but now that he actually had a good look at the map, he didn’t really understand what was going on. He recognized the coast, the port and the canal, but not all the lines, or why some where thicker, or dotted, or followed different patterns. After staring at it for a while, he decided it was nothing he couldn’t solve, so he stood up to see if the extravagant library had anything on sailing.

“Oi, where are you going?” Hinata was on his knees, graphite staining his hands and one of his cheeks. Kageyama wondered how one could get so messy just from writing some names and places.

“To get a book.”

“More books?” He groaned. “For what?”

“To read the map.”

“Ha, you can’t read a simple map?” He leered. Kageyama hands fisted at his sides, brows heavy over his eyes, again.

“Of course I can’t, it’s a sea map, with charts. And I am no sailor.”

Hinata stood up, a teasing smile still hanging on his lips. “I guess it’s on me then.”

He went and grabbed Kageyama’s sketchbook, staring at it for a moment before humming appreciatively. He took it with the rest of his notes, grabbing also some of the oil paints Kageyama had lying around the desk. “These lines are deep water, and these are shallow.” He pointed to the thick and dotted lines. He then opened the little yellow jar, finger painting some of the areas near the beach. “Fine, so these are sandbars, right? They usually move around but still reappear in the same places. If it’s there it’ll be really visible so we’d know, so we can cross them out. Where did she say was the last place they were together?”

In his perplexity, Kageyama could only point to the ‘x’ marked at the north. “So, what do we know about them?”

Kageyama carefully kneeled at his side, examining the map intently. “They do tend to hide in caves and hollowed trees; they may be big but not Kraken size.”

“Right.” Hinata opened the red jar. Kageyama was so concentrated he didn’t even mind the wasting of his precious oil paints. “So we can cross here, and here. It’s open, shallow waters. Plus, no sailors pass over there because the East Ocean and the Orion’s Sea tides meet and it makes it hard to sail or something.”

“Thus no food for them.” Kageyama contributed. “How do you know any of that?”

“I have a lot of fishermen friends.”

“On this side?”

“On all sides.” He handed him his diary. “Tell me the location of the creatures you think would cause commotion, if, you know, met with Scylla and Charybdis.” Kageyama obeyed, however, his face scrunched up at the little notebook. “What?” Hinata asked, offended.

“What language is this?” Kageyama lifted one corner, as if it was trash. “How is you handwriting this dreadful.”

“As if yours was any better! What does it say here? Onion’s tea?”

“Orion’s Sea!” Kageyama answered. “You read this, I’ll mark them on the map.” He gave the diary back, carefully holding the map so he could get a better look. With everything explained, it made a lot more sense. Having some leads and places to avoid now, they weren’t totally empty handed, and could start a proper investigation. For some reason that made him feel a little bubbly inside.

“Do you even know how to find coordinates?” Kageyama nodded. “On sea maps?”

“I can learn.” Kageyama said, and Hinata’s smile just couldn’t get bigger.

They marked down where Scylla and Charybdis could find ‘food’; places they would likely avoid because of the territorial monsters, and highlighted the potential hiding spots. Even took the time to create a route so they could optimize their time. It turned out illegible for anybody that wasn’t them, but they liked it that way as it kept their secret, theirs.

☙

The port was one thousand times worse than the wet stoned streets. The Oikawa Mansion was far away from it, so its salty breeze and its fishy smell could barely reach them. Kageyama hated it for a reason, freezing beaches and dark ports had always appeared depressing to him. Cold, unswimmable waters covered in fog… it was calling for bad things to happen.

He didn’t even put a foot out of the carriage and Hinata was already running to one of the piers, where another equally small figure was jumping in greetings. Kageyama took his time, as being close wasn’t necessary to hear their conversation, their loud voices announcing it to the whole port. It worried him a bit, that they’d be in need of disclosing the case to get leads, but Hinata was already explaining some lie about taking a very stuck up friend who never leaves the house to meet the sea and teach him the wonders of fishing and hard work.

They got permission to board some of the docked ships for checking, and very discreetly smelled the air surrounding them, looking for demonic traces. It was hard, actually, having to stick their noses where they stocked their cargo without being noticed, or even getting close to sniff some of the boats of the more unfriendly fishermen.

Still they got nothing, and crossing it out from their ‘to do’ list they had no other option but to sail on open sea and look for the creatures there. However, they had forgotten, once again, a very important fact: None of them owned a ship.

“Maybe Oikawa san can talk to somebody? Doesn’t half the town owe him favors?” Hinata offered, being his tenth contribution. Kageyama shook his head, rejecting it like the other ones.

“He has Covenant business and if it goes as usual, he shouldn’t be home until the day after tomorrow. We can’t wait that long.”

“Ugh!” Hinata leaned on the carriage, elbows resting on its floor while his hands ran and ran through his hair, urging him to think. Kageyama was already inside, not wanting to provoke the fishermen even more, well aware it was his presence the one that bothered them the most.

“Kageyama, have you ever committed a felony?”

“We are not stealing a ship. We would be putting Oikawa san’s… application at risk.”

“That’s it.” He banged his fists on the carriage, quickly dusting himself before turning towards the sea once again. “I’m just going to ask for a ride, it’s our best shot.” And with that he took off, not waiting for Kageyama, who jumped off the carriage to go after him.

He could already hear the same exaggerated greetings from before, and the thread of unbelievable lies he was pulling off his sleeve. Frowning, he hurried his step with the intentions of shutting him up, but someone called his name, making him halt.

He turned, finding yet another short girl with blonde hair. (What was with this port and its population of people under 165 centimeters?) She greeted him, but Kageyama couldn’t find it in him to greet her back. She was wearing the Covenant uniform, and while he didn’t have any funny business with them like Oikawa did, for what he had heard at the mansion they weren’t trustworthy.

“Kageyama kun, do you remember me?” Kageyama shook his head. “I- I’m Hitoka Yachi, from boarding school?” She laughed. Her tone was already awkward, and now, adding Kageyama’s ignorance she seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. “Calligraphy? With the old prostatai spirit?”

“I recall them, but I do not remember seeing you.” Her face fell all the way now, her whole body deflating.

“Oi! Yachi san!” Hinata ran back, his eyes trained on the blonde.

“Hinata kun!”

“Yachi san,” His eyes rested for a second on the emblem embroidered on her coat, and asked. “Are you working?”

“Yes, I have to do an article on the ships damaged by the recent storm; they said most of them lost a lot of their cargo.”

Hinata and Kageyama visibly perked up at this.

“Oh.., when was the storm again?” Hinata asked, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

“Two nights ago. It wasn’t really near the coast, more like-“

“The Orion’s sea?” Yachi blinked at him slowly, nodding. “Hoshiumi san told me, yes, that.”

Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s arm, signaling him to turn around. Once their faces were out of her sight, Hinata whispered: “You-know-who came two days ago, it must be the storm that got them lost.”

“Although the sea witch almost always brings rain and storms along, so it could be her.” Kageyama rebutted. Both of them thought deeply, before turning back to Yachi.

“Do you remember how big the storm was?” Kageyama asked, directly enough to make Hinata panic a little.

“Uhm, enough to wreck the ships? Why do you-”

Turning away again, Hinata started scolding Kageyama. “Don’t you want to ask her if she’s seen two huge greek eating monsters while you’re at it?” He hit them in the arm.

“I just asked about the storm. If she doesn’t know about you-know-who she won’t be able to make the connection.” He pushed him, and that turned into a slapping match, only interrupted by Yachi calling for their attention.

“Uhm, is this about work?”

“No!” They said at the same time. Yachi pointedly looked behind them, where on top of their carriage an embarrassing sign read ‘Do not fear, Oikawa Tooru is here!’. Apparently, it was used as advertising when Oikawa had just started with the agency. It had his address painted on the other side of the placard. Kageyama didn’t have other option but to take that one carriage given that earlier Oikawa had ran away with the new, spacious, decent one.

Before Kageyama could brush her question off, Hinata lied for them. “It’s not really a case case you know. We are looking for some missing pets! Water… pets!”

“Yes and we have to go.” Kageyama took off towards the pier where Hinata’s friend was, to avoid the conversation, leaving him and Yachi behind.

“So… water pets?” Yachi asked.

“Yeah, you know the sea is… big, and anything can get lost in there.”

“Hinata kun… is this case related to the sea witch visiting town?” Hinata shushed her, gesturing wildly to shut her up.

“Shhh! Don’t let Kageyama hear you!” Hinata put a finger on his lips, eyeing Kageyama to make he was away. “How do you know?”

“The day of the storm, someone at work casually asked if the sailors would be alright so it just… came. I saw her.”

“Oh, right.”  
Yachi was a psychic, kind of, if you asked her. Her powers never followed her will and instead all of her visions were sporadic and unrequited. Most of said visions could be triggered by someone else thoughts or questions, putting contextless imagery in her mind.

The worst thing was, it didn’t even help when needed. Someone at the office could be looking for his pen and no matter how many times it was said out loud, if her powers refused to work it just wouldn’t happen. At the eyes of the Covenant she was useless and so, only thanks to her mother's influence, she got a job at the local newspaper to covering filling articles and things no one really cared about.

“I can help if you want. I can’t promise you I would see anything, but if we travel together maybe I can get something? A-and, I also have the Covenant bandage so we can use one of their ships?”

“That would be great! But, uh, do you want to?” Hinata asked, excited. If they had their own ship they didn’t have to worry about noisy guests or having to come back early. Yachi assured him it was not a problem, and went towards the Covenant exclusive dock.

Hinata went to fetch Kageyama, whom, with his bad temper and the lack of manners it frequently brought, had gained the hatred from Hoshiumi, Hinata’s sailor friend. They apologized, Kageyama reluctantly so, and went to board one of the Covenant’s, the fastest out there, to Hinata’s request. And so they embarked, quite busy and noisy for a three people search party.

☙

It wasn’t long before they got lost. Apparently reading a map wasn’t anything like actual sailing, especially when none of them had ever touched a rudder, brought a compass and forgot to ask from which direction the wind was blowing that day. On top of that it was night, so they couldn’t even guide themselves by the sun’s position.

“You said you knew how to read sea maps!” Kageyama said, grabbing Hinata’s jacket so he couldn’t climb up the masts any further.

“I know how! But navigating with fishermen is different from doing it with a chuckle head! And Yachi san I’m not talking about you!” He clarified. Said girl only groaned, face hidden on her knees from where she was trying not to puke her guts out on the sea and possibly anger some water god.

“Get down here! I have better sight I could see land if there is any!”

“Look, either you let me see if there’s anything I recognize from the map or we wait here until the sun goes up!”

Kageyama gaped, furiously offended. “You are very aware we cannot do that.”

“You could hide in the cabin!”

Kageyama pulled hard enough to make him fall, though on top of him. Hinata took the opportunity to get his hands on his coat, trying to look for the map he had refused to give him earlier, when Kageyama was sure Hinata had lost all sense of direction.

Their proximity with the addition of wandering hands could have set Kageyama’s cheeks aflame had it been possible. In his eyes it was horribly improper, and while Hinata was still mad and a little ashamed, completely concentrated in their fight, all of Kageyama’s thoughts stopped apart from one thing: get him away.

Panic didn’t allow him to calculate his strength, so the desperate push which was meant to at most sent him to the other side of the deck, sent him all the way into the sea.

Kageyama sat there, waiting for Hinata to be eaten alive by some of the fearful creatures that prowled around the vast sea. Instead only a series of curses directed to Kageyama and Kageyama only could be heard. He sighed, a default reaction to Hinata antics, and went to grab the rope hanging from one of the masts.

Yachi was already on the taffrail, arms extended in front of her, grasping it with all her might. Kageyama didn’t want her to peek down to Hinata either, convinced she would pass out just at the sight of the dark sea. He muttered a ‘do not worry’ and threw the rope absentmindedly.

He looked around, noticing that the mist that was surrounding them earlier had almost all dissipated. Kageyama didn’t know a thing about the sea, but something didn’t seem… normal. And that was a lot coming from him.

Hinata’s grunts could be heard getting closer, so Yachi hung both her arms out so Hinata could grab onto them, eyes shut close, breathing on beats.

“-can’t just do that, apologize! What if I was eaten? And Yachi san is here! She’d be a witness, and she’s also a journalist so she could write a very bad note about you murdering innocent hybrids just for the fun of it and your already bad reputation would get even-“

“Shut it.” Kageyama quieted him, one hand out so he couldn’t get any closer once he was on the safety of the deck. “Do you not notice something different? The clouds are gone and the ambience feels far too… calm.”

Instantly Yachi threw her head back violently. Her body tensed for a moment and deflated just as fast, her torso going limp, arms hanging like those badly stereotyped zombie imageries. With blank eyes staring behind them towards the horizon, a finger raised to follow that direction too.

“Yachi san?” Hinata hovered around her, not wanting to interfere in one of her visions. “Do you see anything?” Yachi nodded. “Is it Schy-, ah, a monster?”

“It went away.” She said in a raspy voice, trembling even harder before she fell back, blacking out completely.

Hinata kneeled besides her, arms flailing around, desperate to do something but not knowing what. Kageyama looked between them and the horizon in front of them, his breath getting more labored with each second.

“What do you mean it went away?” He asked quietly, eyes big and maddening. He tumbled down knees first, ignoring the way Hinata cringed at the sound his legs meeting wood made. “Hitoka, answer me, who went away?”

She could only grunt, probably not processing the question at all. Kageyama restrained himself from punching the floor, and instead counted to three, then opening his palm out towards Hinata.

“Give me the map. It is clearer now so maybe if I climb up I will be able to see something.” He obtained no answer besides those big guilty eyes Hinata only wore when he knew he messed up. “Give. Me. The. Map.”

“Look if you hadn’t thrown me out into the sea we would still have a map, don’t you try to blame this on me because I only wanted to do exactly what you want to right now but you didn’t let me.” He vomited out at once, though Kageyama didn’t wait for him to finish. He stood up, shaking his head more exasperated than disappointed, and following that same frantic fashion he pulled a pocket knife out of his coat.

Given that he was at a safe distance and out of stabbing range, Hinata went back to Yachi, fanning her face with both hands while whispering reassuring words. Slowly her eyes blinked awake, though she didn’t look any better.

“Are you okay?” Hinata asked, putting an unsure arm around her shoulders so she could sit up.

“Yes, it just hit harder than usual. What- who are you two really looking for?”

Hinata gaped, not sure what to answer. If they were going to die in the hands of all of the dangers of the sea at least he wanted to be honest with her in their last moments, but in the other hand, Kageyama was really mad and anything could trigger his killing instincts right now. Unsure of what to say, he looked behind him at the same time Yachi sat up completely. Both of them perked up right away at the sight.

“Dumbass what are you doing!?”


	2. The One with the Sea Monsters pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 is finally here! Thank you for the kudos! Again, infinite thanks to [Lambardo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lambardo) for betaing this chapter!!

Kageyama was kneeling at the center of the deck, frantically carving circles on circles on the wood, chanting under his breath: “…conjure and shape you, for you to serve in my works of art, by virtue and influence of the planet Jupiter, in whose hour your blood is born and poured. I invoke you, in this my work, O superior spirits, to-”

Hinata rushed to jump on his back, arms circling Kageyama’s to get them away from the now finished summoning circle. From the corner of his eye he could see sweat already beading on his forehead. It trailed all the way to his tight brow, making his wide eyes look even more frantic. Whatever it was that worried Kageyama that much, couldn’t be good. 

He tried again, to get Kageyama away, but to his surprise and horror, he was firmly glued to the deck, which could only mean the ritual had started, and nothing but a demonic force bigger than all of them could stop it. 

He let go, falling back on his butt. “Kageyama…” He called him, weakly.

“This may be my only chance; I may lose them again if I cannot help it.”

The air was changing again; thick mist creating its way around them, making it hard to see anything outside the boat. The already grey sky darkened, and if it wasn’t for the demonic odor emanating from the circles, they would have been able to notice the very distinct smell of rain. 

Yachi dragged herself to kneel besides Hinata, staring with horror at Kageyama’s work. “Oh, no…”

“What?” Hinata asked, holding one arm out to grab her sleeve and keep her close, while the other went for Kageyama coat. The demonic energy was getting stronger and stronger with each carve and word. It was unbearable. 

“He’s going to bring it here.” 

No sooner said than done, Hinata watched through teary eyes as Kageyama dug out the small rounded glass Iwazumi had given him earlier. He dived for it, doing his most to wrestle it out of his hands. 

“Kageyama! Kageyama, you’re still on time, summon something else! They- they won’t even fit in here; they’re going to wreck the ship and we’ll all drown and-”

“Stay away! I am not summoning them; I am offering the sea witch so once they sense her, they can come calmy instead of ready to kill.”

“And how do you think they’re going to react when they notice there’s no sea witch in here!?”

“I do not know, but you are the one who said they could be rational beings, so we can try and convince them into waiting here and then I could summon the sea witch.”

“This is so wrong. If we die just know that my spirit will haunt yours forever so you’ll never get to rest in peace.” Hinata rubbed his face, refusing to witness with his own eyes the display of demonic magic and all things prohibited.

“Whatever.” Kageyama went back to chanting. His hands squeezed the little bottle until it broke, glass cutting into his skin. From the tip of his fingers all the way to his forearm, it was all surrounded by dark, heavy fog. 

Before the atmosphere circling them turned into something even more insufferable, Kageyama slammed his palms in the very center of the circle; a thin, sharp sound cut through their ears, but instead of the so awaited collision they were expecting, nothing happened. 

Hinata peeked at it, waiting for it to glow, to break, to bring them hell, but found only Kageyama kneeling, staring at his blood-stained hands with a frown. He looked back at Yachi, where she was sprawled like a starfish, heaving all of her tensions out. 

“What happened?” Hinata dared to ask after a few minutes. He couldn’t hear or smell anything different in the air. 

“I… I did everything as taught,” Kageyama said, staring intently at his palms for answers. “What could have- I, there were no extra steps, it was a 5 stanzas chant, did not need more than four circles… by no means could I have messed this up.” 

His breath quickened its pace, and when he finally looked around him and confirmed everything was the same, his eyes filled with rage. 

Throwing a fit, he growled deep in his chest, so desperate it came out broken. Hands fisted, he lifted his arms and with all his might, let them fall on the scrapped wood under him to liberate all the energy from the circle, a direct call for all things bad to come and get them. 

But just when his fists were millimeters away from the deck, what felt like a wave pushed the ship sideways, throwing them off. They steadied themselves, and Hinata had half the mind to go and check if there was anything out on the sea when the ship was, once again, hit from the other side. 

It didn’t take long for it to become constant. The ‘waves’ came crashing from all sides, and if it wasn’t for their brains also hitting every wall on their skulls, they would be able to note the light rain starting to pour, wetting their faces.

“What if it’s them? If they’re already here?” Hinata shouted between all the commotion. As if on sign, the hitting stopped, and it was quiet once again. 

All of them took the opportunity to crawl towards the center, eyes dancing around, still alert. “…did they hear us?” Yachi whispered.

“Maybe it is them. Maybe they did answer to the summoning and are here to… talk?” Kageyama answered. 

From behind him, a huge shadow raised and hovered over them, blocking whatever beam of moonlight they were getting. Now that it was out of the water and completely unconcealed, they got a first-row seat to one of the worst demonic smells they have ever experienced. 

Yachi and Hinata, who had the least experience interacting with things as cursed and malefic as the creature creeping over them, had to fight the urge to pass out right there and there. 

They were frozen in place, none of them daring to move an inch, much less lift their gazes to fully face it. Yachi was the one facing it, while the only thing Hinata and Kageyama could make was its huge shadow. The thing eye’s roamed around the boat, slowly. Yachi guessed it couldn’t really see them, and told so to the other two in the tiniest voice.

“Who dares come to these… my waters?” The voice resounded, engulfing them. 

“Hinata,” Said boy was stoic, his shaking pupils the only signal that he was listening. He shook his head as little as he could, instructing him with desperate eyes to shut up. “Who…”

“Answer me!” The creature’s voice boomed when it heard Kageyama. He flinched even lower, still concentrating in the energy around them to make sure they were still mostly undetected. 

“Do you… remember, any beast on the record that could resemble that?” Hinata was trembling like a leaf, and even though Kageyama kept raising his eyebrows at him, urging him to answer, it was clear Hinata didn’t want to talk right then. 

Yachi tapped the deck lightly, just to get Kageyama’s attention. Hinata, surprisingly did look at her at that. In an attempt to be as quiet as possible, she started mouthing a word. Kageyama concentrated as much as he could without letting his guard down, but still couldn’t make any of what Yachi was saying. 

“Moose?” Hinata asked quietly, Yachi shook her head, and tried again, this time articulating each syllable, “Uh? Me? boss?” Hinata repeated after her. It hit Kageyama then; an instant chill ran through his spine at the revelation.

“An Umibozu.” He said fully aloud.

The shadow got closer, drowning in its darkness most of the ship. Slowly, they all turned towards it; one by one, their necks almost cracking with the tension. Hinata gasped dramatically and Yachi fell back on her butt, already crawling backwards, ready to flee if necessary.

Kageyama had never been so thankful for his supernatural reflexes as he was in that moment, when he managed to get a hold of both Hinata and Yachi to get them out of the way at the same time the Umibozu lifted its arms to let them fall, heavy, onto one of the ends of the boat. 

They catapulted into the sea, crashing hard against the water. They paddled and kicked around until Hinata grabbed onto a broken board from the now destroyed ship, and pulled the rest on so they could keep themselves afloat. 

Not fully content with his work, the Umibozu swam circles around the mess, big eyes dancing empty on its sockets, just to confirm its prey was gone.

It raised its head slowly, meandering, and the holes in its face that served as nostrils widened as it inhaled, deep. When it opened its eyes again, it was to look straight into the three of them. It wasn’t until then that Kageyama noticed the broken board they were holding onto had the summoning circles, the energy running through it keeping it untouched. Yachi and Hinata noticed too, and the three of them let go as fast as they could, swimming in opposite directions.

“Those… fish. You lot smell like those fish, those fish smell bad, bad like her.” It seemed mad, so much it let its head fall back, preparing to crush them with it.

“Go under!” He heard Hinata shout, and without thinking he sank. The Umibozu hit the water like a whip, sending them away crashing on waves.

Kageyama could feel salt water all the way into his brain, and by instinct he kicked and swam until he found a surface to propel himself into. He positioned himself to jump out when something thick and heavy tangled around him, pulling him out of the water like a rag doll.

He came face to face with the sea witch. Her features were even more morphed and evil, eyes glowing a burning yellow, oh, and, she was ten times her original size. 

“Did you call?” She growled, her breath venomous, lacking its usual drama.

“They were here!” He shouted as hard as he could. 

“Where? I don’t see them around…” She turned him around, taking a good look. “How mad do you think the sorcerer and his little boss would be if I eat you right here?”

Kageyama claws came out, though compared to the immensity of the sea witch they seemed pathetic. He didn’t even try to look for Hinata and Yachi, not sure if they were even safe, but sure that they wouldn’t be of any help. 

The Umibozu, had other plans though. Emerging right from under the sea witch, it wrapped around her, and as it attempted to sink her, pulled her down. “They came with you! Your scent is the same!” It howled. The sea witch had to let go of Kageyama to deal with it, and him, not wanting to fall down into the tsunami they were creating, held onto the tentacle just when the sea with used it to slap the Umibozu in the middle of his bald head. 

He hung in there, with the Umibozu too busy to notice him, and did a quick scan around to see which was the best route out of there. The fog had somewhat dispelled, but the rain was still heavy. He inhaled deep, trying to make that distinct earthy smell among all the black magic. He followed the trace and found a pair of bright heads waving at him from some meters away. 

Not having much more time to think with the sea witch and the Umibozu throwing each other around, he held tightly in what he assumed was rotting skin, and took advantage of the momentum of its head-whip attack, jumping towards the other two just when the Umibozu was about to smash its forehead into the sea witch.

He flew and fell a few meters past Hinata and Yachi, and at some reasonable distance from the fight.

The crash with water hurt like hell, and it took him a moment to recover and swim up, gasping for air but moving as little as possible. The rain was hitting him hard in the face and the waves had picked up. He thought about what the Umibozu said, and about the possibility of their hints not being so wrong and Scylla and Charybdis being out there, maybe even being the cause of the mess around them.

He had to take action, and quickly, but he was sure he couldn’t talk the sea witch out of her fit. After all, he just offered her as sacrifice. As much as it pained him, maybe he even needed to ask Oikawa for help, just to calm her down. 

Hinata and Yachi arrived, and tried to pull him up but he denied as there was no space for him and the board would probably break. Still he was able to lean most of his upper body on it, letting himself rest a little. 

“We need to get out of here.” Kageyama said, breaking his head thinking how they were supposed to out swim a sea witch with growing powers and enough strength to tame an Umibozu. 

“Well, yeah, that’s obvious. I think there’s a current around here, I saw some of the rest of the boat floating away around there,” He pointed behind Kageyama. “But I’m pretty sure the current is under, so if we got, like, on top of it, it won’t take us fast, but-”

A screech could be heard, and when they turned the sea witch had the Umibozu immobilized over her head, her tentacles restraining him. She turned and looked until her eyes met theirs, and after sending them a quick smirk, threw the Umibozu in their direction.

She missed, but the force of the collision was enough to once again, send them flying.

It felt like a storm, with water coming from all sides, thundering in his ears. His body was spiraling so much he lost all sense of direction, and even as his brain begged him to go out and fill his lungs with air instead of water, darkness was swallowing him whole.

Bit by bit, his consciousness was giving out. There was no trace of light and his body felt so heavy he didn’t doubt for a moment he was sinking. His eyes closed shut and with that everything around him fell into silence.

☙

“Oh my god, he can’t be dead, can he?”

“I don’t know, ain’t vampires supposed to be like, unkillable? Never heard of a vampire drowning before.” 

“What if- no, we need to get the water out of him, we need to-”

“No. No mouth to mouth, nope. I’ll punch it out of him if I have to.”

And some punching he did, right into under his ribs. Kageyama spasmed, choking out a gulp of water, but only that. Hinata did it again, now with palms wide open on his breastbone. He was way stronger than what one would expect, and could effectively slap someone’s water out of their lungs. Kageyama jerked up and puking litters of water was proof of that. 

“Kageyama! Kageyama can you hear me?” He slapped Hinata’s face away from his. His throat felt raw and he wasn’t totally sure he could speak without coughing his soul out. 

They were on the beach, just where the sea met the canal. “How did we get here?” He asked, raspy voice scratching with every word. 

“The current! We fell right into it so it dragged us here.” 

“Right.” Yachi said. Kageyama thought she didn’t look happy at all, but she didn’t look angry either. Kind of upset, definitely disappointed. She sighed. “Would you tell me what was that about?”

They both froze, and were quickly taken out of their stupor by a splash of water. Again, the sea witch could not have chosen a better timing to interrupt them. 

She was normal sized again, though nothing but demonic energy and dark malice emanated out of her. Her nails were out and her smiling teeth sharp and pointy. 

“So, where is the perky man? Was I so little of a job he sent his lackeys for him?” She walked around them, ready to attack at any moment. “I paid them a visit, and was told you are the one in charge now. Perhaps do you have anything on the whereabouts of my girls?” Kageyama turned too, not wanting her out of his sight. He was no treat, whatsoever, to a witch of her level, but he couldn’t just let her get her way without a fight. 

Kageyama followed her closely. She didn’t seem mad, and instead a playful smile adorned her lips, which was even more terrifying. She stopped in front of Yachi, and on impulse both Hinata and Kageyama stepped towards her. 

“What do you have to say, beautiful?” She twirled a lock of blonde hair in her fingers. Yachi was practically vibrating in fear, but with their proximity, there was nothing they could do without putting her at risk. 

“We are now aware they are on the other side, and are currently waiting for the portal to open so we can continue our investigation there.” He tried hard to keep his voice steady, still fighting coughs and rasps back. The sea witch even giggled behind her hand. “It’s dangerous for…, uh, people like us, over there, so I suggest, uhm, ma’am, to relax here while we bring them to you.”

“You suggest?” She put an arm around Yachi, her tentacles playing with the ends of her skirt. “And just why should I listen to you my dear?”

Kageyama jaw locked, eyes jumping between the smirking sea witch and Yachi. “Scylla and Charybdis, uh-” Yachi eyes widened, finally being aware of what their true mission was. Kageyama decided to change subject again. “I’m just keeping your utmost safety and comfort in mind. I promise you I will cross the portal back with both of them.” 

The sea witch looked skeptical, and so Yachi added. “There’s a festival, taking place tomorrow, no! I mean, some time the- these days. They are probably seeing all the food being prep a-ashore and waiting for it to sail. So that’s our next destination.”

“A festival? No no, that’s too dangerous for the girls, too many… daylights. They don’t like sharing.”

“That is what we are here for.” Kageyama assured. “We will take them before any commotion can take place.”

“Oh well, if you say so, how could I mistrust such dependable young thing?” She patted Yachi’s head, and let her go to stand in front of Kageyama, noses almost touching. “You made a promise; you have until tomorrow. I don’t find your land particularly amusing either so I wish to leave as soon as I can.”

They all stood there, stoic until she went underwater and all traces of demonic smell disappeared from the air. It was Hinata who decided to break the heavy silence. 

“Yes! Yes my beautiful lady! I’ll promise to bring our girls back so we can then ride together into the sunset. No, the moon! Or the bottom of the sea!” Hinata mocked behind him. Kageyama turned, with a certain frown which had started to appear only around Hinata. “Whichever it is as long as it’s with you!”

Yachi buried her face in her palms, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing, while Hinata did openly so. Without a word Kageyama started, rushing to get away from Hinata’s barked laugh. 

“Don’t go, Kageyama kun! Didn’t know you were such a gentleman.”

He didn’t turn back until he realized he didn’t know where they were. He saw Hinata taking his jacket off, squeezing it to get the water off. Yachi was doing the same with the ends of her skirt, making faces at the goo the sea witch had left on it. 

While waiting for them, all he wanted to do was lay in the grass until everything that had happened settled in. Why in the world did Oikawa think he could deal with something like that? Was he secretly trying to get rid of him? He surely was going to ask, if he managed to get him in his Covenant frenzy. 

Seeing as the other two had no rush of getting out of there, he said: “I do know Scylla and Charybdis had already crossed the portal, and are now on the other side.” Hinata frowned, mouthing ‘how’. “You told me both ships and fish have to be aware of the tide and the air and I cannot remember how many things. And this canal, the water from the sea comes here.”

“Uh, no? It’s the other way around, the canals and rivers all end at the ocean.”

Kageyama, shook his head. He was getting worked up for some reason. “This is the other side, remember? So it’s the opposite of your side. And if they ran away from the Umibozu, it could have only brought them to the coast where we or the fishermen would have seen them, or here, where riding the flow could’ve gotten them further away from the Umibozu, faster.”

“The last days most authorities have been busy with the festival, so they could have gone unnoticed.” Yachi mumbled, hugging her arms to keep what little warmth she could. 

“It’s probably hiding, too. Or else the people there would’ve notified the Covenant.”

Kageyama didn’t dare to get excited as the last time he was sure the leads would get them somewhere they ended up as playthings for two of the most terrifying creatures he had ever seen. Still, his body was practically buzzing, and he could even feel a little warmth despite the cold weather and his even colder wet clothes. 

“So they are waiting for bigger prey.” Kageyama signaled her to go on. “The harvest festival…” Yachi said in a small voice. Kageyama cocked his head, a weird feeling setting on his skin. Maybe he should take his outer layers too, to lighten his body a little.

“We ship boats with our harvest to other lands and receive some too. The harvest festival is like the biggest exchange in the year and we celebrate it because it not only brings food, but also brings some of our farmers and workers back and dispatches the ones who’ll be working the summer. So there’s not only a lot of food, all kinds of food, there’s also a dozens, even hundreds, of people sailing in and out.”

Kageyama brought his hands to his chin, thoughtfully. At this Yachi gasped, and then Hinata squealed. Confused, Kageyama raised his hand, only to see a very scalding red painting all of his skin. He looked at the horizon, and noticed, behind all the clouds, just the tiniest bit of light; a brightness his body dreaded. 

“It’s dawn! Kageyama!” Hinata rushed with his jacket, practically jumping over him to cover his head with it. “Yachi san! Your coat he is going to burn!”

With trembling hands Yachi held her coat around him, while Kageyama tried to get Hinata off of him. 

“I am not burning!” He snarked, but when he got one hand off to hit him it instantly hurt, a lot more than when he burned himself serving tea or moving the logs of the chimney.  
He felt another set of arms around his middle, and guessed it was Yachi and her coat. With no other option they rushed to the carriage, covering Kageyama from head to knees, while Hinata shouted instructions to protect his right side with their bodies so they could act as another layer against the sun. 

They all jumped into the carriage, and once Kageyama was safely hidden behind the thick curtains, Hinata had to go out to lead the horses. In the meantime, Kageyama wasted no time and started making a plan to, if not catch them, at least persuade the people from the other side to stay away from the shore. She suggested talking it with her mom, but Kageyama refused, not wanting anyone at the Covenant to know, her being enough. 

In Kageyama’s eyes, Yachi had proven to be of more help than Hinata, as she was easy to talk to and actually put some effort into thinking things through. At the end, and with some shouted complains from Hinata for not being included in their tactics, they decided to arrive early and check the area before anyone could get there. They betted on Scylla and Charybdis’ essence being too strong to conceal, therefore it’d serve as a guide to find them. If they couldn’t, well, at least that’ll mean they were far away from the festival.

☙

Putting the plan into action proved to be more difficult than what they expected. Somehow between the rush of looking for answers and trying to save a whole village while keeping it a secret, they forgot about the time difference. 

Just before Kageyama tried to pass the portal, Hinata and Yachi, who were waiting for him, tackled him back, not giving him a chance to even get a glimpse of the bright daylight side. 

They had to wait in a bench at the portal station, watching people, mostly from the Covenant, taking advantage of the extended opening time the portal had given just for the festival. They came and went so freely, the trio couldn’t help but get irritated. 

Hinata’s knees didn’t stop bouncing, the skin on Yachi’s lips was suffering from all the nervous biting and Kageyama’s frown just couldn’t get deeper. 

After waiting for the longest three hours of their lives, and after making sure the sun had gone completely down, they ran through the portal. 

“Yachi san and I did a quick look through before. The beach is corded so we can’t get near the boats. Nothing about the festival seems different, so no idea where they could be.” Hinata said. He was trying to keep up with Kageyama speed walking his way out of the station, but he couldn’t stop tripping over his over-sized yukata.

“There is a whole sea, however, where they can-” And apparently Yachi found it just as difficult, taking deep breaths between each phrase. “Where they can hide.”  
“Is all of the coast occupied?” Kageyama asked.

“Mostly. At least the accessible parts. It is one of the biggest events on this side, after all.” 

Yachi was so worried about not tripping over her own feet, that she didn’t notice Kageyama had stopped, and crashed against his back. 

Outside the station, at least ten guards from the Covenant were monitoring the area and greeting some of the passerby.

“We need to be careful.” He said, aware that his non-traditional clothes and his dead pale skin would be a quick give away of his origins. 

“We need to keep this secret from the Covenant. Oikawa san’s orders.” Hinata whispered to Yachi. 

They huddled around each other, talking in hushed voices. “So no boats, but also no signals of them being around…”

“You said you knew people from every side. Strike some conversation with one of them like you did yesterday.” Kageyama said into his coat, hunching his shoulders as an attempt to hide his face. 

“I can’t there’s, a lot of old people and adults and they don’t like to be bothered, y’know?”

“And they probably would not fancy being dead either. This is for the greater good.” 

Hinata stuttered. He spat more senseless words until Yachi stopped him. “Uhm, they’re staring.” 

Both Hinata and Kageyama turned their heads around and accidentally made eye contact with one of the guards while Yachi cringed, lightly pushing their backs so they could keep on walking. 

“We ain’t doing anything. They can’t call you out just because you’re a- not from here.” 

“It is most likely they recognize me from Oikawa san’s work. They have reasons to be suspicious.” Kageyama said. He turned to ask Yachi if she had heard anything from the Covenant, but she was a few steps away, looking right past them.

“Don’t you all feel a little…” Yachi drifted off, eyes turning back just like the day before on the boat. This time she didn’t fall, and instead, as if choreographed, the three of them doubled. A putrid, strong smell which could only belong to a fierce demonic force hitting them like a train. 

Kageyama forced himself to breathe in, using all of his power into finding where that smell came from, but it was so all over the place, so crude, messy and unrestrained, it muted all of his senses. It couldn’t belong to anything else but the powerful mix of nature and demonic energy that were Scylla and Charybdis. 

Just as sudden as it came, it went away, leaving them with a bitter aftertaste at the back of their throats. 

“They were here.” Kageyama said. 

“They’re here. I- the canal, I saw the canal.” Yachi stated, staggering a little, eyes lost, pointing at the opposite direction from where the canal was. 

“They’re here, oh my god. What are we going to do, the people! And the ships! There are a lot of family members coming back! We can’t let them get to them and-”

Kageyama looked around, to check if everyone else had noticed. But to his surprise, the only people at a decent distance from them were the guards, one of them very blatantly pointing at them while talking to the other guards. With no doubts, he also sensed what all of them did. And of course, he thought it had something to do with the only nighttime being around.

“And we need to get out of here.” Kageyama interrupted, dragging both Hinata and Yachi by the arm. And so, they rushed their steps even more, careful not the break into a full run or else they would look even more suspicious.

Once they got the festival, with just a quick look they noticed all the stalls were already settled, and people were starting to flood from every side. To Kageyama, it was only a brighter, more lively, and less smelly version of the morning markets on the nightside. The only difference were the contents in the stalls and the running children lightening sparkles. 

No having anywhere else to go, they stood by the side, discussing in hushed voices ‘What just happened?’ ‘Why are the people at the festival so calm?’ ‘Where did they go?’ ‘Why can’t we sense them anymore?’

“They concealed their presence, somehow. I get a faint smell of chrysanthemum; Iwaizumi san uses it sometimes when we have to hide stuff at the mansion.” Kageyama had at least an answer for that, but it didn’t comfort them at all. 

“How would they even- doesn’t matter. We are at least 80% sure they’re here, and that they are waiting for something big or else they would have attacked already.”  
Kageyama looked at them, and sighed, saying what none of them wanted to hear. “We need to go into open sea now.” Hinata was ready to protest, but Kageyama didn’t give him a chance. “The canal. We will swim through the canal, all the way into the sea circling the ships. Getting closer would give us more leads of where they are.”

“No. None of us can’t swim that much, and I personally don’t want to get anywhere near salt water for the next 20 years.” Hinata shook his head, walking back and away from him.

“We do not have the luxury of choosing if we want to do something or not. They are out there already, of that we are sure. What comes next-”

“What, Kageyama? What comes next? Tell me. We go out there, we find them and then what? We can’t fight them, we probably can’t convince them to go away. So we spend a stupidly amount of time swimming all the way to open sea, get eaten, and then let our souls watch from hell as everyone else gets eaten too!” Hinata voice raised to a shout, stunting not only the passerby but Kageyama too. 

Out of instinct, Kageyama responded by grabbing him by the front of his yukata, snarling on his face. Hinata did the same, shaking out of fear but not willing to back down. 

“Boys! Not here!” Yachi said between gritted teeth, hands fluttering around, not knowing how to separate them but afraid they would cause an even bigger commotion. “Kageyama san! M-maybe Hinata is right, we can’t-”

“What now?” Kageyama growled at her. Yachi jumped back, scared. “You should be of use and get us a Covenant boat.”

Yachi was now trembling from head to toes, gaping. She looked seconds from running away. “I- I can’t, yesterday I almost got in trouble and-”

“Then why are you here?” The question was so blunt and sudden Yachi couldn’t make out what to feel. Kageyama, too, didn’t have time to process the weight of his words before Hinata jumped him, now for real. 

“What’s wrong with you!?” He shouted. This time they had a crowd surrounding them, but none of them could bring themselves to care. They struggled around, doing more pulling and pushing than hitting. Yachi could feel herself close to passing out when a crouched figure passed her, going to the fighting pair.

“Now, now. What do we have in here?” The figure said in a deep, raspy voice, which was ignored by both of them. “C’mon, young men, there’s no reason to fight.” An old, wrinkly hand extended from under her poncho, a lightly tapped Hinata on the shoulder. 

Hinata let go of Kageyama and jumped away, touching where the woman’s hand was, and feeling the heat radiating even through his yukata. 

“There,” The woman smiled, knowingly. “Would you care to come and get your fortune told? It’ll help you see things from another perspective.” 

“No. Excuse us.” Kageyama said curtly. He turned to leave, glad that the noisy people were dissipating. His step faltered, however, when from afar he saw the Covenant guards trying to make their way between all the people. 

He crouched down, at the same Hinata and Yachi saw them too. “Lead the way.” Hinata said, hands on the other two’s back, pushing them towards the woman. 

“I thought so.” She smiled again.

She took them between some stalls, all the way to the end of the quieter part of the festival. There it stood a tent, dark fabric hiding everything inside. She cleared the way, guiding them through bead curtains and fabrics of luminous colors. At the center of it, a round table carrying a ceramic bowl with what looked like simple water, and facing them, a deep red velvet chair. 

“The troubled ones, sit down please.” She said as she seated, signaling the chairs in front of her. “You little thing can wait at the side. Even if you have any input please do not interrupt.” Yachi nodded, standing by the door while Kageyama and Hinata sat down. 

“So why are you here today.” She said, taking a little bottle of oil from under the table and rubbing her hands with it. 

“You brought us here.” Kageyama deadpanned. 

“No, I invited you and you followed. What do you need, card reading? Palm reading? I do clean up jobs too.”

“…Cards are fine.” Hinata said after an uncomfortable silence. While the woman disappeared behind her big chair to look for the cards, Hinata grabbed Kageyama by the collar of his coat, so he could speak on his ear. “We have to tell Oikawa san.”

“There are Covenant guards all around, if they see him anywhere close to Scylla and Charybdis he can get locked up.” Kageyama whispered, facing him full on so he could read the severity of the situation on his frown. 

“Iwaizumi san then? I bet he can at least keep them in check.” 

Kageyama was about to tell him that Iwaizumi was the first to bail out of the case, that he was there spying when it happened, but the woman came back before he could. “Are you two friends?” She asked, extending the deck of cards in front of her, all of them facing down. 

“No.” Both of them said at the same time, faces showing some bits of disgust. 

The woman laid her hands over the cards at each end. She observed them, eyes lingering a second longer on Hinata’s hand keeping Kageyama close. “I see.”  
Hinata rushed to let go of Kageyama and both sat back, leaning in opposite directions. 

“Dip your hands in the water, and choose the card that speaks to you.” 

Without thinking Kageyama pointed at one near the center, Hinata doing the same. The woman singled those cards out, and chose another three. One by one, she turned them all. She appreciatively hummed each time, staring at them thoroughly. 

“Well?” Kageyama asked when she didn’t show signs of sharing with them. 

“It’s all here, the quarreling lovers.” She pointed at the two cards they chose. Hinata choked on the word ‘lovers’. 

“No, those are the sun and the moon.” Kageyama said. 

“Exactly. Opposites attract. Only the moon is reversed which means there have been communication issues between both of you.” 

Hinata gaped, mouth opening and closing not really forming any word. He pointed at the cards and then at himself while his face blushed. 

“It does not work that way.” 

“Young man, you have to believe in change for it to happen.” She reached for their hands, putting them over the card in the center, Kageyama’s on top of Hinata’s, which made him blush even more shades darker. Kageyama could almost smell the steam coming off of him. “Take a little comfort in the Tower; it’s reversed too, which means your fortune has just changed, if you work together you will be on the right path in no time.”

Kageyama rubbed his temple with one hand, as the other was still over Hinata’s trembling one. He looked at the other cards, a reversed hierophant and a normal hanging man. He didn’t even waste time trying to make out what all of that meant as he knew that the woman was nothing but a scam. He was about to comment on it when Yachi shouted from behind him. 

“The lighthouse!” She pointed at the card under his hands, and the idea hit Kageyama so hard he was a little mad at himself for not thinking it first. He stood up, but the woman stopped him, “Ah ah, we are not done yet.” 

He looked back at Yachi, and determined, she nodded at him. “I’ll go.” And out she went.

After some minutes of dubious advice and suspicious esoteric practices, they came out 3 gold pieces poorer and smelling like fake saffron. Running towards the lighthouse, they met Yachi midway, who had to take a moment to breathe.

“It’s closed. The door, and there are runes on it so… I wouldn’t recommend breaking in.” 

“Jumping straight to the top would attract the attention of the people on the coast. Any ideas?” He asked Hinata, startling him. Kageyama lifted a brow at this. “You are unusually quiet.”

“Uh? No, not at all. The monsters! I’m thinking about the monsters and how to, you know, get them.”

“…we just said the lighthouse. You were present when Yachi came up with the idea.”

“Ah, really? Must have slipped me, haha. So, what’s the lighthouse for?” He asked, voice tiny, scratching the back of his head. Kageyama wanted to get mad, but it was a lost cause and they had better things to do.

“So we can send the upcoming ships away, what else?” 

Hinata was quivering on his shoes. “Oh, that. The lighthouse keeper usually has a stall! Ha, I’ll go look for it!” 

Luckily for them said stall was not crowded. There, a man sat on a low stool behind a goldfish filled tank. Each time he grazed the little net he was holding against the water the fish swam in the opposite direction. 

“Irihata san! How’s the business going?” Hinata asked, grossly cheerful. 

“As one would expect. It’s still early and people don’t want to carry their fish around so they wait right before the festival ends to come.”

“Well, at least they come.” Hinata laughed still in his ultra happy voice. “Irihata san, are you still taking care of the lighthouse?”

“When it’s needed, yes, but it hasn’t been needed more than once a month in these times.”

“Better for you! You can take care of your family then, how is Mizoguchi san doing?” From behind him Kageyama kicked him in the chin, indirectly telling him not to go out of track. “Oh, and, I have a friend here visiting, and we were wondering if you could let us in, just so, you know, he can get a better view of the village and the festival and all the lights and the boats!” He flashed him the brightest smile.

The man, Irihata san, eyed the two people behind him; and as everyone else on that side, his eyes lingered more than was appropriate on Kageyama. “Is he…”

“Dying? Yes!” Hinata said loudly, laughing uncomfortably after both Kageyama and Yachi shushed him. He leaned in to whisper: “He doesn’t have long, so I want to make this special.” His voice did waver, but Hinata hoped the man was at least fooled by Kageyama’s looks.

Irihata hummed. “It’s not my property so I can’t just let you in. But I’ll tell you what, if you catch these two little monsters over here, I’ll lend you the key.” 

They shuddered at the word monster, but focused on the two fat, ugly, dark grey fish lurking at the bottom of the tank, swimming so slowly one would think they were sick. 

“Uh, sure?” Hinata said. He grabbed the net Irihata offered him, and following the basic strategy of dipping it slowly and letting fish swim into it, he shoved it to the bottom and waited for the black fish to catch itself. However, it stopped right in front of it; the back and forth motions of its tail almost mocking. 

Hinata frowned, and trying not to disturb the water around, moved the net carefully, but right when it reached its whiskers it backed and swam away. He tried again, even more delicate each time, alternating between each fish, but, again, just when they were about to go into the net, faster than one could blink, they suddenly were at the other side of the tank. 

Irihata cackled, “See? They have been bothering the other fish and kids don’t like them, but not even I can catch them. If they don’t escape, they bite, and I want them out before the late rush comes and I’m accused of scaring the kids on purpose.”

Hinata laughed awkwardly while the fish ran once again from the net. Exasperated Kageyama, took the net from him, telling him he was too clumsy and too rushed. He pushed it into Yachi’s hands, who turned out to be even more clumsy and nervous than Hinata. 

Kageyama was about to take the net from her, when a series of blowing horns, each closer than the last could be heard. The noise around them got louder, and they could hear the excitement rising in people’s voices.

“Oh god, they are coming, the arriving ships are on sight!” Yachi said, dipping the net again and moving it recklessly around, not really catching anything. Hinata shouted an ‘I’m sorry’ and dipped his hands too, though it seemed that the extra pair of hands was causing more bad than good, almost blocking from view the dark fish with all the tank-swirls and the goldfish attempting to run away too. 

Seeing as everyone in the festival was moving, either to buy food to eat while waiting or just run straight to the beach, Kageyama took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. He pushed both Yachi and Hinata aside, and waited for the water to settle before focusing on the fish, calculating. It was a small tank, they should not be able to do much. 

Breathe in, breathe out and with no precautions, his hands dipped and surfaced, triumphantly holding both fighting fish in his hands. 

Yachi and Hinata cheered, while Irihata laughed again. “Not too bad for being deathly ill.” 

Kageyama almost dropped the fish in his surprise, noticing then that being in the zone had caused his claws to come out. He hid them again, and Irihata only winked at him.  
He gave them the key, along with a very nice wooden bowl to carry the fish, as a thank you. When they left the stalls, Kageyama wanted to leave the fish to their own luck, but Yachi said they looked like smart fish and didn’t deserve to die. And so with them they went.

As they got closer to the lighthouse, and consequently, the sea, Kageyama got again that smell of chrysanthemum. ‘They might be near’ he thought.

Once they reached the lighthouse, Hinata tried to open the door, but his shaking hands didn’t let him enter the key. Kageyama snatched it from him, but struggled just as much, getting the sides wrong, and when he forced it inside it didn’t even turn. 

They were desperate, so much that Kageyama ditched the key and instead tried to tackle it open with his shoulder. Hinata joined, but the door didn’t stir at all. They could feel the magic from the runes hitting back, building on to send them away, but they didn’t have any other alternatives. 

The door had started to glow, and Kageyama was getting ready to charge again when a very distinct, sweet voice called for him. 

“Yahoo~ Tobio chan!” Kageyama turned, and coming from the woods was Oikawa, followed closely by Iwaizumi and oh, the sea witch.

Yachi was the one closest to them, and at the sight of the sea witch she tensed, hugging the bowl with the ugly fish even more tightly. The sea witch threw a smile her way, but froze instantly. She stared at Yachi, and started sniffing loudly, making her way towards her.

Instinctively, Kageyama and Hinata made to get between the sea witch and Yachi, but Oikawa stopped them with arms around their shoulders, practically head locking them so they couldn’t move. 

“Chibi chan, you’re still here? What are you doing, my little ruffians?” 

Hinata wasted no time and rushed to ask for help. “They’re here! Yachi saw something in- she saw the canal and then we smelled demonic essence and Kageyama said they are disguising themselves so we wanted to send the ships that are coming away so then they can’t get near them and the other ships won’t sail which would also keep them… safe.” His voice trailed down to a whisper at Oikawa’s condescending smile. 

“And then what? How would you capture them?”

“…we need your help.” Kageyama mumbled, reluctantly. 

“Ah, Tobio chan, what you need is to pay more attention.”

He nudged both of them, and signaled with his head towards Yachi’s direction. The sea witch had taken the bowl from her hands and was dancing happy circles around her, cooing at the bowl while the fish inside peeked their ugly heads out, just as happy to see her. 

Yachi was silent, pale as a sheet, and both Hinata and Kageyama went limp in Oikawa’s arms, which made him laugh. 

“No way,” Said Hinata, while Kageyama fought his way out of Oikawa’s arm. 

His skin had gained some color, which could only mean he was furious. “You knew.” He accused Oikawa. The annoying smile didn’t leave his face. “Since when?”

“Since I left you in charge. I thought you would notice.” He patted him in the back. Hinata was still dumbfounded, eyes glued on the sea witch. 

“So! Ma’am, they did a good job, didn’t they?” Oikawa said cheerfully, making his way towards the sea witch. 

“Oh, yes yes, my girls are safe and sound, I am forever grateful!” She squealed, and went to hug Yachi, who would have fallen on her back if it wasn’t for Iwaizumi. “How can I repay you?”

“Knowing that we could help is all the pay I need!” 

After more praises and thank yous, the sea witch left, swimming and jumping around out in the sea, along with her two ugly fish, to then disappear into the horizon.

“So… The lighthouse? We can get a nice view up there. Iwa chan.” He called for the sorcerer, who went towards the door and with a quick wipe of his hands erased all the runes. The door opened almost instantly. “C’mon, we can see the ships from up there.”

Yachi looked out of it, and Hinata tried to console her. “At least we didn’t have to deal with legendary monsters.” 

“Yeah…” She smiled tiny. “I much rather be fooled than having to go search for monsters in the sea, again.”

They went inside the lighthouse, followed by Iwaizumi. Kageyama, however, was still angry. 

“How did you know?” He asked Oikawa.

“Well, I didn’t _know_ know, but still decided to trust my gut. There was no demonic smell, at all. No traces, no sightings. Sometimes you just have to go with the most obvious.” He grabbed Kageyama’s arm to take him inside the lighthouse, but he didn’t move.

“What about the demonic presence we felt when we got here.” 

“It was probably us. We were looking for you, and of course we had to hide the sea witch, but I guess the portal acts up to magic.” 

“We were almost eaten by an Umibozu.” Kageyama said, a bit less mad. The stuff he was hearing shouldn’t make sense, but as always Oikawa convinced him it did. They entered the lighthouse and went up the numerous stairs. “We could have died.”

“That’s why I sent you the sea witch.”

“She could have eaten us too.”

They were already at the top. Hinata and Yachi were leaning on the railing, pointing at the festival and talking as if nothing had happened.

“Tobio chan, relax. Your first theories were wrong, but overall, you did a good job, 7 out of 10. The next man-eating monster we get will be all yours.” 

Iwaizumi was waiting for them, keeping the door open so they could go out. “The sea witch… fluids. What were they for?” Kageyama stopped in front of him and asked. 

“So you could make a familial guidance ritual. Wait, what did you do?” 

Kageyama moved to join Hinata and Yachi at the railing, face blank. “A summoning circle.” 

Oikawa and Iwaizumi looked at each other, alarmed, but Kageyama ignored them. 

“We’ll talk when we get home.” Iwaizumi said, and they leaned too, watching as all the people on the beach cheered and hugged their arriving loved ones, while others cried and discharged their family members. 

The smell of the food reached even them, and the laughs and cries of the people filled the air, welcoming the new season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will be kind of episodic, so it'll be a different case each chapter!! See you the next one!! Again, thanks a lot for reading!!! All criticism and so is well recived

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one out of two of the first chapter, I'd try to post part two within a week so stay tuned! And thank you so much for reading!!


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